Children's Advocacy Center fights for young victims

Family Support Line executive director Pat Kosinski, right with Delaware District Attorney Jack Whelan and Children and Youth Services administrator Deirdre Gordon inside the Children and Youth Services facility in Media. (Times Staff / ERIC HARTLINE)

When a child has been the victim of a trauma like sexual abuse, the last thing he or she wants to do is relive the incident and discuss the details over and over again.

But thanks to Children’s Advocacy Centers, a child does not have to do that. At these centers, a forensic interviewer asks the victim to discuss the incident once while a case worker, law-enforcement officer and assistant district attorney watch the interview via video in a nearby office.

Local officials in Delaware County are working to gain recertification of a local Children’s Advocacy Center through the National Children’s Alliance. The staff at Family Support Line, a nonprofit agency in Media, is taking the lead in the planning and recertification process, according to county officials.

Family Support Line, located at 100 block of W. Sixth Street in Media, has provided counseling services to sexual abuse victims and prevention education programs to county residents for the past 25 years, according to the agency’s Executive Director Patricia “Pat” Kosinski.

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“We want to partner with Pat because she already does tremendous work in this area,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan.

Whelan said the county has had the concept of a Children’s Advocacy Center in place for more than 20 years. He also noted that the District Attorney’s Office has a Child Abuse Unit and two detectives along with Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino have been trained in interviewing children.

“We’re already implementing the program and philosophy of Children’s Advocacy Centers,” Whelan said.

Kosinski said the recertification process can take a few years. She said that while her agency is taking the lead, it’s a community project and the organization needs the community’s support.

Kosinski estimated it will cost about $300,000–$500,000 a year to operate this center depending on staffing, office space, equipment and security measures at the office. She said the center will serve approximately 400 Delaware County children a year.

Deirdre Gordon, the county’s administrator of Children and Youth Services, said the purpose of the center is to provide a warm and supportive environment for children.

“All the children in this situation will be interviewed one time by a forensic interviewer which will reduce the trauma for the child,” said Gordon.

County Human Services Director Joseph Dougherty said the goal of the center is to make it as comfortable as possible for children “who go through this terrible ordeal.”

Abbie Newman, executive director of a Children’s Advocacy Center in Montgomery County called Mission Kids, said there are 23 of these centers in Pennsylvania — 13 of which are accredited. Newman, who is also president of the Pennsylvania chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers and Multidisciplinary Teams, estimated there are about 800 of these centers nationwide.

These centers substantially reduce the trauma a child deals with once the information initially gets reported to authorities, according to Newman. Without these centers, victims have to repeat the details of the traumatic incident to several people and by the time the case gets to trial, the victims might not want to discuss the incident again, according to Newman.